Directed by:
Jan NěmecCinematography:
Jiří MaxaCast:
Zuzana Stivínová, Jan Budař, Tobiáš Jirous, Marek Bouda, Marie Čermínová (a.f.), Jindřich Štyrský (a.f.), Jindřich Heisler (a.f.)Plots(1)
A most undefinable and hallucinatory work by Němec, in which he dives into the visionary world of the Czech painter and leading light of both Czech and French surrealism Marie Čermínová (1902-1980). An avant-garde personality, she also challenged the traditional gender roles, taking the enigmatic gender-free name Toyen and becoming one of the few female faces of the surrealist movement. Following her aesthetic principles, Němec radically breaks with the conventions of biopic and with the retro genre as well. Fully aware that any artist biopic would always be a poor illustration of a character's life, as any true artist is unapproachable, he instead makes a kaleidoscope of different images, related and unrelated to reality at once. Archival fragments, re-enactments, Čermínová's paintings and her poetic works, as well as other materials and textures converge and diffuse in this ghostly film which, in the words of Toyen, could have been called "Splinters of Dreams" or even "Silence and Darkness". (International Film Festival Rotterdam)
(more)Reviews (2)
I like to watch artsy movies when I'm in the right mood, but there was just too much art here. I admit that from the artistic point of view this is a very well-made piece, but the value of the movie is very questionable. I wanted to learn something interesting about the painter Toyen, but unfortunately there was only sporadic information about her life. (45%)
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An excellent subject drowned in the mannerisms of a supposed enfant terrible (another, unfortunately) and Tereza Brdečková. Nevertheless, this can be considered as a film with feeling, which opens up the Toyen theme for the next generation and awaits a serious biography. I regret that this Němec work is practically unavailable and can only be seen very rarely - but then again, it really isn’t all that great.
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Gallery (5)
Photo © Asociace českých filmových klubů
![Toyen - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/000/170/170520_82bd94.jpg)
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